The Myth of 100 Days

Barack Obama has crossed the symbolic mark of 100 days to the cheers of the crowd and the praises of the leaders of analytical media. But what does all this mean?

First off, for a young president without executive experience, he made it through these three tumultuous months without committing any major errors. What that means is that in a full economic meltdown, while he pours billions of dollars into a hole-filled barrel, he holds onto an approval rating of more than 60 percent of the American people.

But that’s a figure whose worth is more or less significant when compared to the past. Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter had approval ratings higher than Obama after 100 days. George W. Bush wasn’t very far behind, either. What that signifies is a potentially dangerous collapse. Carter was defeated in his bid for reelection and Bush left the White House with the dubious distinction of being the most unpopular president in history. Six months after taking his oath of office, Reagan fell to a 40 percent approval rating.

Thus, the 100 day benchmark is largely a myth. In fact, it’s clearly an invention of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the only president to have been elected to four consecutive terms from 1933 to 1945. The constitutional amendment limiting every American president to two terms was adopted following his reign. Roosevelt was the father of the New Deal, a downpour of millions from the government to pull America out of the Great Depression.

FDR established 100 days as the deadline in order to adopt an avalanche of new initiatives tied to the New Deal. The truth of the New Deal is that he didn’t come through with the anticipated results. Also, the Supreme Court ruled several of his programs unconstitutional. America came out of the crisis due to World War 2.

Lessons from History

President Obama already has two very unpopular and costly wars on his shoulders. Except for the arms dealers who don’t hire a lot of people anyway, war is no longer a remedy for economic stimulus for a country that has lost almost its entire industrial base. That has moved to China or India.

Roosevelt also took advantage of ending Prohibition, allowing alcohol to flow in the nation and putting its profits in the hands of ordinary citizens, rather than gangsters and in the coffers of the government. Obama’s only option in this vein is to legalize drugs. That will not come easily.

One thing is clear – Obama understands the lessons from history well. The real impact of the 100 days legend is for presidents to enact their plans before people’s opinions change. In short, he’s striking the iron of electoral victory while it’s still hot. It’s also to set the tone of his presidency, to communicate what type of leader he will be. In that sense, he and his team have succeeded beyond their expectations. Obama seems to be everywhere and accomplish everything at the same time, almost always looking in good shape and in perfect control of the situation.

But what will happen to all these seeds he’s spread? The yield could easily turn from a bountiful harvest into a mine field.

Once could also foresee the multiple traps that will threaten Obama, like the swine flu that’s come down even though Obama hasn’t yet named a Secretary of Health, a Surgeon General or a head at the Centers for Disease Control. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano is dealing with it.

But in the end, several of the potential traps are the young president’s own creation, like the publication of infamous internal memos describing the different methods of torture used against presumed terrorists by CIA agents. Obama distribute the up-to-now secret documents out of a concern for transparency.

Far From Over

We suspect that this story is far from over, and has the potential to go very, very badly. In releasing the memo, Obama specified that he would not search for the guilty parties nor bring them to justice. Except that some time later, his own attorney general, Eric Holder, contradicted him by emphasizing that “No one is above the law.” Holder answers to the American people, not the president.

And then, influential senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, proposed the formation of an investigative committee to get to the heart of the matter, to find out where and who provided the orders to use torture. This is an obvious attempt to take it up the ladder to George W. Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney.

Obama has good reasons to want to forget and pardon. He is uncertain that Americans would appreciate seeing themselves exposed in the eyes of the world as anything but the good guys. The mess would lead to a radically divisive investigation which could prevent Obama from acting on his more important initiatives.

During this time, the insufferable Dick Cheney is declaring to whoever will listen that Obama is compromising U.S. security. We’re listening to him more or less…for now. If America is the victim of another terrorist attack, the finger will be pointed at Barack Obama.